Dark berries
Oak

Everyday Low

Mills Reef Elspeth Merlot

Name: Mills Reef Elspeth Merlot
SKU: 114805
Price: 44.99 NZD
Availability: InStock

Wine · New Zealand · 13%

$44.99each

What it tastes like

Ripe plum and blackberry flavours with soft tannins and gentle oak, in a smooth, balanced style.

Dark berries
Oak

Additional information

Wine
Style: New Zealand
Origin: 13% ABV
Alcohol: 0.8 per bottle
Standard drinks

The story of Mills Reef Elspeth Merlot

Elspeth is the top range at Mills Reef, the family-owned winery at Aongatete, north of Tauranga, and its reds are grown in the Gimblett Gravels district of Hawke's Bay. Paul Dawick is the winemaker. The range is known for Bordeaux varieties and Syrah, and this one is 100 per cent Merlot.

Gimblett Gravels covers about 800 hectares of stony ground that was once regarded as poor, low producing land. The first red varieties were planted there in 1981, and Merlot is now the most planted grape in the district, at around 35 per cent of its vines.

The winemaking is unhurried. For the 2020 release the grapes were gently crushed and given a three day cold soak, then fermented in an open top tank with the cap rummaged daily and a long spell on skins afterwards. The wine spent 20 months in French oak hogsheads, 34 per cent of them new, and finished at 13.5 per cent alcohol under screwcap.

Expect ripe blackcurrant and spicy Black Doris plum, silky tannins and a long mocha finish. It is ready to drink now and will also cellar well. Roast lamb, a mushroom pie or an aged cheddar all sit nicely beside it.